Fence-post mold.



A. FLEMING.

FENCE PUST MOLD. APPLICATION FILED 111111.10, 1911.

1,049,852. Patented Jau?, 1913.

lib

ALEXANDER FLEMING, OF CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA.

FENCE-POST MOLD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented-Jan. "l, i913.

Application led August 10, 1911. Serial No. 643,332.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER FLEMING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linn and State of llowa, have invented cert-ain new and useful lmprovements in Fence-Post Molds; and l do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

rlhis invention relates to molds; and the object of the same isto produce a portable and simple mold by means of which reinforced concrete posts can be made quite rapidly and having a body substantially triangular in contour and pierced with holes for the passage through it of the fence wires. rlhis object is accomplished by the construction of mold hereinafter more fully described and claimed and as shown in the drawings wherein- ,Figure l is 'a side elevation and llig.v 2-

plan view of this improved mold, the latter showing the cover omitted; llig. 3 is a central longitudinal section through the mold with the cover in place; F ig. l is an enlarged cross section on the line 4 4 of llig. 3,'omitting the cover; Fig. 5 is a perspective detail of the main parts of the mold slightly separatedfrom each other.

ln the drawings the numeral 1 designates the body of this improved mold which is by preference made of galvanized iron and formed of two sides which converge toward each other downwardly and are united by an angle or rather sharp bend 2 along the bottom of the length of the mold, this bend intended for forming the front corner of the finished fence post. By preference onev end of the body is made somewhat smaller than the other so as to give the proper taper to the post throughout its length, and therefore the sides of this body will be approximately formed as shown in the drawings. The edges of the sheet of metal from which said body is made are formed in crimps or beads 3 which are 'preferably turned outward and made rather dat so that the cover Il may lie thereon as will be clear, thisncover being also formed of a sheet ofv galvanized iron shaped to correspond with thef open top of the trough-shaped body described. The extremities of the body are bent outward into flanges 5 which both give strength so as to maintain it in the proper shape and serve as means-by which it may be sustained from the ends next to be de- Vscribed.

The ends of vthis mold are of like construction and configuration, excepting that the flanges of one are disposed farther apart than those of the other. Each end member comprises an upright portion 6 with an outturned foot 7 along its lower edge adapted torest upon the ground or other suitable support, and by preference an outturned ange along its upper edge to give the body of this end member stiflness and also possibly to serve as a handle by which it may be manipulated. Therefore ll preferably form this flange 8 into a bead somewhat like those numbered 3 along the edges ofthe body of the mold. Formed with or secured to the inner face of the upright portion 6 is a sheet 9 (herein shown as riveted tothe upright portion 6 as at 10) whose edges are inturned on lines converging downward so as to form hook-shaped flanges ll properly disposed and proportioned so as to engage the -anges 5 at the x extremities of the body. @ne of these end members is well illustrated at the right of F ig. 5, and the other at the left thereof will be of the same construction excepting that of course its Hanges 11 will be properly disposed with respect lto the flanges 5 at the left end of the body shownin this view.

As clearly shown, vthe end flanges 5 of the yielding body l of the mold do not extend around the bend 2 but only along the opposite converging straight sides, whereby the latter are adapted to yield toward one another' when the upright end portions or sections 6 are forced in position to complete the mold. When the parts are bindingly forced together and properly assembled it is impossible for the same to become accidentally disconnected.

This mold, as above stated, is especially adapted for the formation of triangularlfence-posts which are reinforced as indicated by the triangular outline designated at lt in ligl, and in order that the reinforce may be properly supported within the mold l secure to the inner sides of the walls thereof stops 12 which are simply small pieces of angle iron whose outer ends are riveted to the walls of the mold and `whose inner ends project inward about as shown. Also l secure to the bottom of the mold another stop or support 13 (similarly `body formed and attached) Whose upper edge has a notch A14 adapted to receive the angle vof the reinforce R. By preference about two sets of such stops are disposed throughout the lengthof the mold, as best seen in Fig. 2. I

The stops '13 'while secured to the bend 2 in the body member 1 have their opposite edges out of contact with v the flat sides thereof and thereby permit said sides to yieldinwardly sufficiently to readily attach the end members to the mold, the said edges of the stops, however, limiting the inward movement ofV thesides in order to preserve thek original shape of the ,body member.

The use of this improved device Will be well understood by those familiar with the art. The end members are setup and the flanges 5 of the body member forced into the ianges l1 thereof, and the core or reinforce'R inserted as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4 which shows the mold ready for the reception of the concrete. In order that they latter will not stick to the inner face of the mold and also in order that the finished post shall have a neat appearance, I'pref-v erably lay oiled paper around within the of the mold before pouring the concrete, and this I have ldesignated by the 'reference letter I in- Fig. 4. The plastic concrete is placed in the mold, smoothed down, and the holes for the wires made; and then at once it is ready to be turned out,because the -oil paper retains'the concrete in shape so that there is no necessity for allowing it to harden before dumping out the completed post. Thisenables `a workman to yturn out'over a hundred posts a day with each mold. SaidV holes for the wires are preferably made b forming rows of holes 15 through thesi e walls of the body 1 in direct alinement with each other,

'and' when'the product produced is to be used as a fence post pieces of well oiled wire will be inserted through these holes beforepouring the concrete and will of course be removed before the formed post is lifted out of the mold. Their obvious function is to leave holes transversely through the fence ost at proper points for Ithe passage o the line wires of the fence.'

. I have found by experience that the use of oiled paper prevents the adherence of the concrete to theinner face of the mold and gives the outer face of the finished p ost anex'cellent appearance, much as though it had been pressed while setting.

If other forms of devices are desired for the passage or attachment of'the line wires of the fence, the holes 15 may be omitted from the mold or if a .mold having them be employed the paper P may be doubled and the wires which form the holes through the post omitted. Y

In practice I have found that a fence post reinforced by a triangular core or reinforce R may be turned out of the mold at once after it has been formed, and therefore this improved mold can be re-used without the customary delay .between pourings.

Details of construction may be altered as desired by the manufacturer or user, and without departing from the principle of the present invention.

What is claimed as new is:

In a portable mold for the formation of substantially triangular reinforced fence posts, the combination of a .yielding metallic body member made of a single piece of sheet `metal having. two converging sides 'united by -a bend,A outward y'turned beads formed on the longitudinal edges of the sides and ianges formed on the ends and terminating atthebend, two similarly constructed end members forming supports and closures for the ends of the mold, the end members comprising upright portions carrying plates, each plate having hook shaped inturned edges converging downward but separated and adapted to engage y ALEXANDER FLEMING.

' Witnesses:

H. RICKEL, L. D. DENNIS. 

